Blu-ray Review: THE CURED

Saturday, June 30th, 2018

THE CURED was written and directed by David Freyne and stars Ellen Page, Sam Keeley, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Stuart Graham and Paula Malcomson.

What happens when the undead return to life? In The Cured, the world has been ravaged for years by a virus that turns the infected into zombie-like cannibals, until a cure is at last found and the wrenching process of reintegrating the survivors back into society begins. Among the formerly afflicted is Senan (Sam Keeley), a young man haunted by the horrific acts he committed while infected. Welcomed back into the family of his widowed sister-in-law (Ellen Page), Senan attempts to restart his life — but is society ready to forgive him and those like him? Or will fear and prejudice once again tear the world apart? Pulsing with provocative parallels to our troubled times, The Cured is a smart, scary, and hauntingly human tale of guilt and redemption.

Years after The Maze Virus has ravaged Europe, a cure has been introduced and most of the infected are now cured and end up getting reintroduced into society where some are accepted and some are rejected. There’s also a small percentage of the infected that are left behind in this secured government facility because the cure didn’t take with them. The movie follows Senan (Sam Keeley), one the cured who goes to live with his sister-in-law Abbie (Ellen Page) who was married to his brother before the outbreak. It’s uneasy and uncomfortable and rightfully so because everyone who was infected has been changed forever. Senan lives with the guilt of the disturbing things he did when he was infected and it gets a little eerie at times but Abbie is patient with him and wants to give Senan a chance at his new lease on life.

There’s also Conor (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), another man who was infected and is now cured but his reintroduction into society didn’t go like he’d hoped because his own father ended up rejecting him. Conor has a past with Senan so he decides to introduce himself to Abbie and this is where things slowly go south. He very pushy and makes everyone around him uncomfortable because he also doesn’t really like being one of the cured. This is a man full of resentment and rage and ends up leading a revolt with some other rejects so he can get his revenge on humanity. Conor’s plan is to free the ones who couldn’t be cured and unleash the outbreak all over again and he nearly gets away with it. There’s a standoff between this deranged outcast and Senan who were both infected but once they were cured they chose different paths.

The front of the packaging features the artwork you see at the top of the page and the back includes movie details, some images and list of special features. The reverse sleeve features some alternate artwork and movie credits. The Blu-ray disc also features some artwork that matches the front cover. Inserting the disc, the menu screen was simple and easy to navigate. The picture and sound quality for the high-definition disc were crisp and clear. I didn’t have any issues with the video and audio.

Bottom line is, The Cured isn’t just another zombie movie that’s been unleashed into the already oversaturated subgenre because it offers up something a little fresh and different. It’s in the vain of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later more than anything else but it also differs from these two modern day horror classics because it takes place after this virus outbreak and shows what happens next and how some of these people go on with their lives. The movie is also grounded in its approach because something terrifying like this could happen one day. The cast did a really good job with their characters and the movie itself is more of an emotional, character driven horror drama than anything else. Don’t worry because there’s a little blood and gore to go along with it. David Freyne did a good job telling his story and bringing this original concept to life on screen even though the landing may have been a little soft. The final moments of the movie is when all hell breaks loose but it’s up to the viewer to interpret how things play out in the last few seconds. The Cured will be available on Blu-ray on July 3rd.